Late on the night of Dec. 9, 1994, a group of people cutting across the yard of the Haldi Road elementary school on the outskirts of Prince George found the body of a girl. She had suffered multiple stab wounds.

Her name was Alishia Demarah Germaine. A drug user who sometimes turned to prostitution, she had attended a Christmas dinner hosted by the RCMP at the Native Friendship Centre earlier in the evening – an occasion that may have hinted at new hope in her life. In subsequent news stories, friends told of a girl wanting to get off the streets and go back to school. She was 16. Her name would be added to the list of victims on the Highway of Tears investigation.

The poignant coincidence?

It would arrive 18 years after her death. It was this.

The Haldi school, which has been closed now for a decade, is the proposed site of a women’s addiction treatment centre. An organization called the Northern Supportive Recovery Centre Society wants to open a 30-bed facility there. Alishia Germaine, had she lived, might have found a new start there rather than an horrific end.

In a column last week, I looked at the attempts to get the centre running, and the surrounding neighbourhood’s continued opposition to it. It included a challenge in the B.C. Supreme Court, a change to the official community plan and, in the latest act by the neighbourhood, a plan to separate from the city of Prince George and join the regional district. Democracy has not responded satisfactorily to their needs, they have decided. Perhaps pique will.

The neighbourhood residents cite a number of reasons for their opposition – a lack of water and sewer services on the site, security concerns, increased traffic, poor road conditions, decreased land values, the unsuitability of an institution in a semi-rural residential neighbourhood, a city government unwilling to listen to their concerns — all of which, when stripped bare of the niceties, add up to classic NIMBYism.

Their humane refrain is a familiar one, too: They aren’t against addiction counselling and believe the women should be helped. They just feel the centre would be, you know, better suited elsewhere.

They are by no means the first in this province to feel so.

In 2008, the odiously-named Caring Citizens of Richmond blocked the establishment of a 32-bed drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre on a site that previously housed troubled youths. Some Yaletown residents have recently complained about a temporary homeless shelter in their midst. On both the east and west side of Vancouver, residents vehemently opposed treatment centres in their neighbourhoods.

But there are examples of social welfare residences and treatment centres which have not only coexisted successfully with neighbours, but have been welcomed by them.

A notable example can be found in Keremeos. In 2009, the little town of 1,200 saw the establishment of Portage Keremeos at The Crossings, this province’s only publicly funded long-term residential addiction centre for peoples ages 14 to 18. The property, bought in 2000 by Vancouver’s Central City Foundation, is 10 kilometres west of Keremeos, just off Highway 3.

Its opening was preceded by careful spadework. Portage and Central City representatives first approached the village council to explain their intent. A couple of public meetings were held to explain the program.

Peter Spencer, a director of Central City, wrote in an email: “The success enjoyed by The Crossing did not come simply by happenstance. The development of the facility spanned 10 years from the initial purchase of the property to start-up and during that period, significant emphasis was placed on ensuring that the local communities were both informed and invited into the process. It would appear the work that went into that part of the development was worthwhile. However, I think I can also say that rather than encounter the kind of ‘not in my backyard’ attitude with which all of us are so familiar, the program proponents were welcomed by an enlightened and open-minded community. And that has proved to the benefit of everyone and most especially the residents who have committed to turning around their lives.”

Little Keremeos had its own education on substance abuse committee. It was engaged on keeping its residents and children aware of the dangers of drug abuse.

“The Portage people came to the town explaining what they hoped to do,” said Keremeos Mayor Manfred Bauer, who was then chair of the substance abuse committee, “and basically, we did some research on them and we were convinced it was a pretty good idea.

“Certainly,” Bauer said, “there was skepticism. There were a lot of questions from the residents. People were worried about break-ins, that sort of thing. But I think as soon as people found out what this program was about, the concern melted away.”

That concern turned into an embrace. For one thing, The Crossings became a source of employment for locals, with about half of the 40 staff members coming from Keremeos. In a more charitable vein, residents began to volunteer their services. A local gardening club teaches the kids how to garden. Local musicians give them music lessons. The town regularly tries to include the residents in local activities, and has invited them to speak to local kids about their experiences and the dangers of addiction.

“This,” said Bauer of the relationship between his town and The Crossings, “is a real success story.”

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Pete McMartin: Little Keremeos has a lesson in humanity for the NIMBYites among us

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